The European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA) and its European Institute for Commercial Communications Education (edcom) are delighted to announce the winner of the 14th annual advertising student competition, Ad Venture, in collaboration with Asahi.
Ad Venture is the first Pan-European competition which gives students the opportunity to experience what it is like to work in advertising by creating their own campaign in response to a brief from a real client. This year’s brief came from Asahi, who challenged students to bring their creativity to a new level and create a campaign for their Asahi Super Dry beer, that perfectly envisions the idea of ‘Modern Japan’. Almost 300 students from 20 universities across 10 countries engaged in the competition. After two rounds of judging, video presentations and a live online Q&A, The Ensos team from New Bulgarian University was declared as winner.
Nicole Lalewa, Boris Stojanov, Konstantin Antov and Sevdalina Andreeva, from The Ensos team impressed the jury with their team spirit, creativity, and the understanding of the product. The winning team is awarded travel, accommodation, and tickets to the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
In second place we had TBD Team from Sup de Pub in France who made their entry memorable by a deep consumer understanding, the proper insight and pragmatism in the execution. Third place this year went to Les Tartines from Panthéon-Assas in France who left the jury impressed for their strong insight, the understanding of the category and their ability to work as a group.
In the last stage of the competition, the finalist teams’ work was seen by jurors representing the client, industry, and academia. Asahi was represented by Grant McKenzie, CMO; Stefan Teodorescu, Regional Marketing Capability Director and Diana Simon-Bruns, Global Head of Brand. Agency representatives included Corina Bratu, Strategy Director at Leo Burnett Bucharest and Cesar Valadares, Head of Strategy at MRM Paris; and edcom was represented by Paul Springer, Falmouth University; Cliff Van Wyk, Bournemouth University and Kirsten van Poppel, Fontys School of Economics. The jury was chaired by Leonard Savage, Chief Creative Officer at McCann Prague. Check the jury profiles.
Stefan Teodorescu, Regional Marketing Capability Director at Asahi, Romania, said: “Ad Venture Student Competition is a great opportunity for the business and the student community to interact. It was a great inspiration for us to see how much the students engaged with the brief on our flagship brand Asahi Super Dry. The level of energy and the quality of the work was impressive. We the jury did our best to provide objective critique and guidance to the teams. Congratulations to the winning team and I hope they get the best of the coming Cannes Festival.”
Leonard Savage, Chief Creative Officer at McCann Prague, added: “A strong field of young minds worked beyond their years and tackled a difficult brief with maturity, joy and just the right amount of danger. A great pleasure to spend those hours immersed in their creativity.”
“If we had to describe the last 9 months in a few words they would most likely sound something like ‘a never-ending journey’. And we don’t say these words just so they could be the perfect ending. For us, they hold a spectrum of emotions, memories, and an excitement of what might come next. We are truly grateful for the opportunity that we got to work on such a challenging brief for such a thrilling client as Asahi. Formats like Ad Venture are the perfect place to get out of your monotony bubble and test yourself whether you can keep up with the big industry and show off those great ideas could come from everywhere.”, commented The Ensos Team.
The organisers, edcom and the European Association of Communications Agencies would like to thank all the student teams, the client Asahi for a fantastic brief and the jurors who took part in this year’s Ad Venture competition.
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For more information, please contact Kasia Gluszak, Project Manager at kasia.gluszak@eaca.eu.
Notes to Editors
About Ad Venture Student Competition
Organised by European Institute for Commercial Communications Education (edcom) and The European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA), Ad Venture is the first Pan-European competition which gives students the opportunity to experience what it is like to work in advertising by creating their own campaign in response to a brief from a real client.
About edcom
edcom is the European Institute for Commercial Communications Education. It strives to promote excellence in commercial communications education and research and to further exchanges between the European commercial communications sector and academic partners. Edcom was founded by EACA together with the founding academic partners in 2007. Find us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
About EACA
The European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA) represents more than 2 500 communications agencies and agency associations from nearly 30 European countries that directly employ more than 120 000 people. EACA members include advertising, media, digital, branding and PR agencies. EACA works closely with EU institutions to ensure freedom to advertise responsibly and creatively. For more information, visit www.eaca.eu. Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn.